Alcohol the elephant in room: academics

Academics are calling for a national conversation on restricted club trading hours, saying it has strong potential to curb Australia's culture of alcohol misuse.

Queensland and federal police are this week gathering at the annual Australasian Drug and Alcohol Strategy Conference in Brisbane, where overseas peers will share methods of tackling a global drug problem.

But when it comes to drug-related harm in Australia, alcohol is the "elephant in the room", according to Deakin University associate professor Peter Miller.

"It's the greatest cost to our society, and it continues to be," he said on Wednesday.

Prof Miller will release research showing restricted club trading hours is one of the strongest evidence-based strategies.

"The violent venues register that's running out of NSW has shown massive improvements in terms of holding pubs accountable and reducing alcohol-related harm," he said.

"We also found very strong evidence for increasing the price of alcohol, putting in place a minimum price."